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Fairer, More Transparent Complaints Procedure for Parents
Dated: 26/09/2008
Fairer, More Transparent Complaints Procedure for Parents
Schools Minister Jim Knight and Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan have today announced plans for a fairer way to handle complaints from parents and a new system to ensure all incidents of bullying are properly recorded.
A new independent service will help parents who feel their concerns cannot be resolved at school level on issues from behaviour to school uniform.
he idea delivers on a commitment in the Children’s Plan to make the process of handling complaints more open and fairer for all. The proposals mean that parents will be able to refer their complaints to an independent service which will review the decisions made by the school and take action if they feel the parent has been treated unfairly.
Jim Knight said:
“Generally parents and schools work very well together. However, sometimes there is friction and very occasionally schools and parents cannot resolve their differences and a further step has to be taken. Currently, most of these complaints would go to the Secretary of State. This can be a lengthy process and only applies to certain complaints or disputes. His power to direct schools is limited to certain circumstances.
“The new process I’m proposing today will ensure parents get a fair hearing. There will be a set process for all complaint,s other than for exclusions and admission appeals which will be dealt with separately. The new service will be able to look at whether a school handled a complaint quickly and fairly as well as whether the school breached a specific education law. This will make for a far more useful and practical service for parents.”
The new proposals will:
- strengthen the arrangements for reaching resolution in disputes between schools and parents;
- provide effective redress where the school has been at fault in providing a service or handling a complaint, or support schools in their decisions where they are correctly reached;
- streamline, where possible, current arrangements for complaints; and
- replace the Secretary of State’s role in considering individual complaints with a new service independent of central government.
The DCSF will consult on the best independent host for the new complaints service, as well as its principles and the range of remedies where a complaint is upheld.
The intention is for the independent service to look at the substance of a complaint but not to seek to substitute its own judgement for sensible decisions properly taken by the school. However, where they feel an inappropriate decision has been made they will be able to ensure schools take action. Possible outcomes from the service could include: requiring a governing body to reconsider their decision, requiring a school to review the appropriate school policy, or requiring a school to apologise and put the original situation right.
Clearly, it is best for concerns to be settled swiftly at local level through dialogue between schools and parents, and this does occur in the vast majority of cases. 96 per cent of parents surveyed in the Parental Involvement in Children’s Education (PICE) survey said that they feel very or fairly confident in talking to teachers at their child’s school. But the new system will be used for a minority of disputes that are not resolved at the school level.
Two differing approaches will be consulted on. The first would involve an independent complaints review service to be hosted by an existing organisation. The second option would be to provide an independent local referrals system in which a panel convened by the relevant local authority would be able to require a governing body to reconsider a complaint. We will also look at the use of independent mediation services.
Plans to require schools to record all incidents of bullying have also been confirmed by ministers today. This will help focus schools on tackling the issue and ensure that schools can monitor the success of efforts to stamp out bullying. It is currently clearly stated in guidance that it is best practise to record all incidents. Ministers now intend to place formal legal obligations upon governing bodies to record incidents involving both bullying between pupils and verbal or physical attacks on teachers by pupils.
Kevin Brennan said:
“Bullying can destroy a child’s confidence and their enjoyment of school; we must do everything possible to prevent children from being bullied. I want to send out a clear message that bullying will not be tolerated and children who are suffering should speak out.
“Over the last year we have been working with our partners to tackle the bullying of children with special educational needs and disabilities; crack down on cyberbullying with mobile phones and on the internet; and issue guidance to help schools deal with homophobic bullying.
“Today we are going a step further. We want to make it compulsory for schools to keep proper records whenever an incident of bullying is reported. This information means teachers can keep parents better informed and allows schools to rigorously monitor the effectiveness of their anti-bullying policies.
“We are also asking schools to record all incidents of verbal or physical abuse against members of staff. Any aggression towards a teacher or member of support staff is completely unacceptable and it’s essential that schools take firm action against those involved.”
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